Wartime Britain

What was life like in Britain during the Second World War (1939–45)? Here we explore rationing, evacuation measures, the Blitz, crime, and the role of women

Circa 1840. Oil on canvas. Private collection. (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images)

General History

War and military history podcast episodes

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Diners watch a waitress chalk up the dishes offered on the day's menu at a British Restaurant in Gillingham, 1941. (Photo by Reuben Saidman/ Popperfoto via Getty Images)

Eat for victory: the British Restaurants of WW2 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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circa 1923: A Remembrance Day poster issued by the British Legion after World War One, reminding people to wear a Flanders poppy on November 11th. (Photo by Bob Thomas/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Why we should remember... When the paper poppy became a symbol of remembrance . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill delivering his famous 'iron curtain' speech at Westminster College

Second World War

8 of Churchill’s greatest speeches

Women queue for potatoes in a greengrocer's shop in London, c1945. (Photo by Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer/IWM via Getty Images)

Saving food, saving lives: rationing in the Second World War

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Krystyna Skarbeck, also called Christine Granville

History hero Michael Morpurgo chooses Krystyna Skarbek (1908–1952) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

AFS firemen tackle a blitz fire amidst the rubble surrounding St Paul's Cathedral, London. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

Your guide to the Blitz, plus 9 places affected by the bombings

VE Day revellers blowing party trumpets

Second World War

In pictures: jubilant VE Day street party celebrations

Expelled Germans leaving Poland's western territories

“The war without an end”: what happened in Europe after VE Day?

Crowds in Piccadilly Circus in London celebrate VE Day

Countdown to VE Day: the week World War 2 ended in Europe

A woman is carried away on a stretcher following a German bombing raid on London, c1940. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The dangers of the Blitz spirit

Sir Nicholas Winton

Second World War

The ‘British Schindler’ who saved 669 children from the Nazis

Franklin D Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill

Secrets of Churchill’s War Rooms

Members of the Home Guard train racing pigeons as messengers in Blackburn, July 1940. Soon, carrier birds like this would be supplying vital intelligence on German arms factories and troop movements in occupied Europe. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The pigeons’ war on Hitler

A colour illustration of First World War allies, the German Reich and Austria-Hungary, featuring soldiers shaking hands, their troops and national flags, c1915. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

First World War

Q&A Who was involved in the First World War? Who was on each side?